Eskom will implement load shedding in stage one at 10am on Tuesday and this will continue until 10pm, the electricity utility said.
“The grid is exceptionally tight. There is a medium to high chance of load shedding today [Tuesday] if we do see further technical challenges developing,” spokesman Andrew Etzinger said earlier in the day.
He said 25% of Eskom’s generator capacity was not operational due to technical problems.
“We will implement the stage necessary in order to protect the grid. We won’t go to stage three unless it is absolutely necessary.”
Eskom on Monday announced on Twitter that it had moved its power cuts from stage one to two.
“Load shedding has moved from stage one to stage two as of 3pm,” it tweeted.
Power cuts would continue until 10pm, it said at the time.
Stage one allows for up to 1GW of the national load to be shed, stage two for up to 2GW and stage three for up to 4GW.
It said the power system was severely constrained due to unforeseen technical problems at power stations. — Sapa